


Look How Far We've Come

by sullacat



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Body Image, Established Relationship, Family, Ficlets, First Kiss, In Public, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mistletoe, New Year's Resolutions, Outside Sex, Water Sex, Writing on Skin, mckirk - Freeform, space boyfriends, spones - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-22 10:49:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/912313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sullacat/pseuds/sullacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These are old ficlets written from 2009-2012 for various prompts and flash-fic challenges at Jim and Bones Livejournal community.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt asked for still-clothed sex, blue jeans and Georgia. Who could resist that?

"So, what do you think?"

Jim snorted. "Whatever you paid for it, it was worth it..."

"Looks just like it did when I was a kid and used to go hide out in the barn." Grabbing at Jim's hand, they headed out toward the back forty. There were times Bones might have felt guilty about spending what he had on some bit of earth when he lived in space with Jim, but... he'd wanted this. Jo was taken care of, financially, and fuck, Bones wanted this, Jim knew that. Had encouraged him to go for it, to save and scrimp and pinch enough to buy back his granddad's land.

It might have been the best day ever - blue skies, white puffy clouds and the smell of sunshine. And Bones, wearing a white t-shirt and old ratty jeans, worn at the knees. All he needed was a bit of straw hanging out of his mouth and he'd look like the perfect hick.

"Well, its a good thing we don't gotta pay for much out there," Bones continued walking, gravel sliding under his old boots. They reached a rickety fence and began walking off the dirt path, Bones investigating the fence, shaking it to test it's stability. "Gonna have to redo this soon," he murmured to himself, frowning.

Jim laughed. "What, in case the cows decide to stage a prison break?"

Bones gave him a look, then walked closer to him. "Maybe," he said, bringing their faces close together. Too close, the way he did it when he wanted to tease Jim, who closed the distance and pulled him closer, groaning into the kiss.

"Fuck, you look good," Jim mumbled into Bones' neck, grinning as he felt the laughter bubble up in Bones' chest. "What's so funny?" he asked, dragging his lips across the skin.

"You," Bones said, hands resting casually across Jim's shoulders.

"No, 'm serious. Look at you," he said, his hands sliding under the white t-shirt, fingertips darting inside the denim waistband and blue eyes looking into hazel ones.

"... yeah?" Bones asked, knowing Jim would understand the unspoken question.

"Hell yeah," Jim answered, pulling Bones closer to him by the belt loops and kissing him hard. One hand skirted around the front and unbuttoned the top of Bones' jeans and Jim grinned as he felt Bones shiver, felt that need inside him growing. "C'mon, baby..."

And that's all it took. Bones pushed Jim back against the fence and pulled at his jeans, unzipping them, pulling them down enough to get a fist around Jim's cock. "Like that?" Bones growled into the side of Jim's head.

"Would like it better inside me," Jim moaned back, biting at Bones' neck, grinning as he felt himself flipped around, turned, facing the fence. "Fuck, yeah," he leaned back against Bones, gripping the wooden planks under his fingers as he felt Bones' spit-wet fingers slip into him. Jeans slipping to his knees, Jim stepped up, one foot on the bottom of the fence, offering Bones a better angle.

Jim turned around enough to see Bones unzip his pants and pull his hard cock out. He licked his palm and stroked himself a few times and it was the fucking sexiest thing Jim had ever seen. Stepping up closer to Jim, Bones put one hand on his shoulder, pressing him harder against the fence. "Jim... you got no idea-" Bones mumbled into the back of Jim's hair, bending his knees just enough to get under and then he pushed up and inside and- "...fuck, yeah," he groaned loud, the noises somehow louder out here in the open air. Pulling Jim onto his cock, Bones hung his head back and exhaled, hands slipping to Jim's hips as he began fucking him.

Jim used the fence as leverage, trying to hold himself steady for Bones, hearing him panting and breathing hard behind him. "Harder, yeah baby, like that," Jim felt himself pushing back against Bones, knuckles white from gripping the fence. When Bones reached around front to stroke him roughly, Jim lost his balance a bit and felt himself leaning back against Bones, Bones' cock even further inside him than before, and he came as loud as he'd ever been, the sunshine on his face making it hard to open his eyes completely. Jim felt Bones behind him, familiar enough now with the sounds and movements, knew his lover was close, almost there, and he clenched himself inside, urging him on and smiling when he felt the shaking, heard the gutteral moans of Bones unloading himself inside Jim.

A few more shallow thrusts and it was over, Bones out and leaning against Jim, using the fence to hold them both up. A few moments later and Jim felt Bones pulling up his jeans, slipping him into his underwear and carefully zipping him up, fingers lingering over the spent cock, cupping it gently. He could feel Bones breathing against his neck, so he turned his head into it, kissing him soft and wet, his body turning so he could do the same for Bones, not stopping the kiss as his fingers tucked him back into his jeans. Bones had that look on his face, the one that said he still couldn't believe what he had, what they had together, the look that said more than any words ever could. "I think this fence is pretty steady myself," Jim told him, grinning easy as he pushed a strand of wind-blown hair out of Bones' face.

Then Bones smiled, bright as the Georgia sunshine, and Jim decided that was the best face ever. "Don't think that's gonna get you outta helpin' me fix this."

"Oh no," Jim told him, slipping his hands into the back pockets of Bones' jeans as they turned back, toward the barn. "I can't wait to come back out tomorrow."


	2. Indelible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim likes to write on Bones. It's not always silly doodles...

"Stop moving."

"Fuck, Jim, I gotta be on shift in a bit."

"Relax, alright? Almost... there."

Bones grumbled, but didn't move, laying perfectly still and naked, Jim straddling his legs. He'd long since come to terms with Jim's penchant for drawing on his skin with his old-fashioned quill and ink. Sometimes his lover's flair for the dramatic was a little much, but it suited him perfectly. "What's it say?" he grumbled.

All he got from Jim was a little laugh. "It's nothing," he said. "Gonna shower this morning?" he asked, rolling out of bed and heading to the bathroom.

"Yeah, just give me a minute. And save me some hot water," he called out, twisting and stretching as he felt his spine pop. Only one thing better than morning sex with Jim was the hot shower afterward, the two of them cleaning each other off, slippery soap and a washcloth and kisses and touching. Just has Bones' hand hit the door to the bathroom, his communicator went off. Urgent message from Chapel, he was needed in Sickbay now. Fuck.

"Gotta run, Jim, I'll talk to you later!" he called out, tossing on a fresh uniform, and Bones headed out as fast as he could.

 

Three hours later the crisis seemed to be under control. Two medics who had been contaminated with the ion particles were still being treated, but they were responding well to treatment, and once he made sure everyone else who touched them had gone though the decontamination shower, he followed suit. Pulling the blue shirt off, he tossed it into the pile for incineration.

They were staring. "I got something on me?" he growled, worried that he might not have been careful and the contaminant had touched him, then stopped. Fuck. Jim... he hadn't showered the shit off his back, and whatever Jim had been doodling on him that morning was still there, and Bones prayed that it wasn't something fucking pornographic.

He sighed, turning to Christine. "Sorry 'bout that," he told her. "Not too embarrassing, I hope."

She paused a moment, biting her lip. "No, not at all."

"Yeah, it's just - sometimes Jim doodles, I dunno." Fucking embarrassing, standing there like this. Gonna kill him later. "It's nothing, don't be offended or anything, if its dirty or-"

"Leonard," she stopped him, giving him a little smile. "It's not a doodle." Pulling out her scanner, she gave his back a quick pass, then tapped into the computer terminal. "I'll be back in a minute, Doctor. Make sure you get the rest of your clothes off, then get into the shower."

Bones hesitated a bit, then stepped over to look at the video display. It was his back, and it wasn't a doodle. _I want to marry you._

For a long moment he just stared at it, looking at Jim's scrawling script etched across his back. Swallowing, he saved it to his private files, then stepped into the shower. A quick glance behind his back and he could see that it was gone, the ink dissolved in the decontamination shower, circling the drain before disappearing.

Bones was waiting for Jim that evening when they finished their shifts. "Hey," he said, his body language a little nervous.

"Heard you had some fun down there in Sickbay today," Jim said, pulling off his uniform top. "You alright?" he asked. "Look a little jumpy."

"Feel a little jumpy." Bones began pulling at Jim's pants, clumsy at first, laughing softly as Jim wrapped his arms around him and pulled his shirt off. Soon they were naked and on the bed and Bones rolled on top of Jim and slid inside and he was home, inside Jim's body, hot and tight around him.

Home... Bones leaned across Jim, reaching over for the drawer where he kept the quill and ink. "My turn," he said, rolling Jim onto his stomach, hoping the nerves weren't in his voice. He began writing, starting on the top of Jim's shoulder blade.

_That day, when we flew out of Iowa, things were really bad, you might not ever know how bad... but you saved me somehow, from a life of anger and bitterness and unfocused grief. I was lost, and you were lost, and somehow we found each other and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say these words to you, but maybe they'll sink inside you and you'll somehow know what's in my heart. I love you, so much it scares me sometimes and I don't think I could make it out here without you, and I know I don't want to try. Promise me you'll let me take care of you, and love you forever, cause I'm never gonna leave you._

The last few words were smaller, getting squished into the top of Jim's ass, and Bones dropped a soft kiss to finish the sentence.

Jim laughed, soft and gentle as he lay on his stomach. "What does it say?" he asked, turning his head to try and see the script.

Bones leaned back on one elbow, dropping the pen on the table. "It says, 'I wanna marry you, Jim'."

Jim paled, his hands freezing in place. "You saw it?"

"Saw what?" Bones nosed the skin at Jim's neck. "You ain't answered me yet."

Blue eyes met hazel. "You sure?"

Bones lifted his head, peeking down at the words that back of Jim's back, words that said everything that was in his heart. "Yeah, I think I'm sure." And he was. Wanted to know that it was going to be them, forever. Wanted Jim to know that he'd have someone who be with him forever. "You sure?" he asked, touching Jim's cheek with one hand, a careful look into those blue eyes, his heart beating so loud he could hear it.

Then that smile, the one on Jim's face... "Yeah," Jim nodded, looking back at him with amazement and relief and love, and it was the best fucking thing Bones had ever seen.


	3. Progeny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three words you don't hear often enough - Spock and Leonard fluff

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?"

Spock sat down at his armchair, more comfortable than one would have expected to find in the Vulcan's quarters. "If there were something amiss, Leonard, I assure you, I would share that knowledge with you."

"Well, your definition of 'amiss' and mine must be different," Leonard retorted, pulling off his boots as he sat down on his own chair, " 'cause I can tell that somethin' is bothering you. I don't care if it's illogical or silly or you think it's not important," he added, looking over at Spock. "I can't help if you don't tell me."

"It is not anything you can help with," Spock replied crisply, his eyes following McCoy's face. "Do not concern yourself."

"I thought you were my concern."

There, that got him. Spock nodded his head a fraction, assenting. "I had another communique from my father."

Fuck. Those never seemed to make anyone feel better. "Didn't go well?"

Political intrigue hadn't appealed to Spock, which is why he preferred science and Starfleet. "There are questions regarding hereditary titles and the future of the Vulcan High Command, whether lineage will play as large a part in the new colony as it has in the past. With so many family lines destroyed, it may not be possible, but..." Spock paused, realizing how quickly he had been speaking. A nervous habit, and the corner of his mouth twitched with the memory of his mother, trying to calm him.

Spock took a breath. "Without an heir, there are some questions as to the relative strength and position of the family in the new colony." House of Surak, with no heir. There was considerable concern.

Leonard tilted his head, curious. "Seriously? I mean, well, it's a little soon for them to be worrying about you not producing an heir, isn't it? Not even out of your thirties - you got a lot of time ahead of you, you're in great health-"

"Our current assignment is not exactly one of relative safety." The last away mission was proof of that. "Also-" Spock paused, as if unsure he wanted to continue.

McCoy recognized the pause, and the way Spock was avoiding his eyes. "What?"

Straightening his back slightly, Spock continued, his hands folded in front of him. "I told my father not to expect children. That I- would not be selecting a female for my bondmate."

That bit of news should have pleased Leonard more than it did, but Spock seemed unhappy. For all his stoic bearing, it wasn't all that difficult to parse out an emotion from the other man, if one took the time to look.

"It's important to you? Continuing the line?" Leonard asked quietly, already knowing the answer and feeling a bit useless. Of course it did.

"It... was. My family has always been leaders, diplomats, high-ranking members of society." Lifting his glass, he took a drink of his water, to wet his mouth. "I confess to no small feeling that I am in some way letting them down."

McCoy knew what vocalizing that statement meant to Spock, how hard that was... and he understood disappointing people. "You know, Spock... there's ways of having children without- I mean-" fuck, why this was hard, "...there's adoption, or insemination. You could-," he paused and took a breath. "We could do this."

Spock carefully set the glass on the table beside him, turning his dark eyes in Leonard' direction. "You would raise a child with me, Leonard?" he asked softly.

Leonard gave him a slow smile. "Yeah," he nodded seriously. "Yeah, of course." One hand reached over to stroke Spock's hair, and Leonard smiled a little... all their serious talks seemed to happen in these chairs. When Spock first indicated his interest across a chess board. When they'd discussed Pon Farr and its implications. When they'd agreed to move in together.

"I would like - if this were to happen, I am not opposed to adoption, although there are few true orphans in our society, the family unit being as strong as it is. But-" This time Spock reached out, taking McCoy's hand in his, stroking the doctor's strong fingers with his own long elegant ones. "But I would like it to be our child, if it were to be done."

Unable to keep the silly grin off his face, Leonard chuckled lightly, flipping his hand and bringing their hands together, slow. "A little one from you and me?" He chuckled as their fingertips touched. "Can you even imagine how stubborn he or she would be?"

But Spock could, easily. Spock could visualize the boy in his head - tall and strong, dark hair and hazel eyes, Leonard's compassion and his own intellect. And maybe a younger sister soon after. Quick to argue, slow to trust, with opinions as pointed as her ears. Yes, Spock could see them as clearly as if they were standing in front of him. "I will speak to my father again, ask him to make the appropriate arrangements." Engineering a child using their genetic material wouldn't be as difficult now as it had been when he was conceived, and there would be no difficulty finding a surrogate. "You are certain this is something that you want?"

"I can't think of anything else I want more." Leonard stood, pulled Spock up to standing and wrapped his arms around him. "C'mon, you," he said, tugging Spock toward their bed. "Be nice to me tonight and I might let you pick the name." Spock opened his mouth to explain the intricacies of Vulcan naming patterns when Leonard shut him up with a kiss.

Perhaps they would discuss it more later.


	4. Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: First time getting outted to the public

They were running late for the holiday party and it was in full swing by the time they got there. Jim had gone all out to make sure that no matter what winter holiday his crew celebrated, they were represented in some way, given the chance to let go and have some fun. While Leonard really wanted nothing more than to just curl up for the night in Jim's room with him, he understood how important it was for the young captain to spend some time bonding with the others.

Some of the others, anyway. He could have done without the ones still trying to get into Jim's pants, but as long as they wanted to keep their relationship under wraps, Bones was going to have to deal with that.

"Oh Captain." _Speak of the devil_ , he sighed, watching a tall blonde walking toward them. Ensign Ripert, galley. Before the Narada she had just been Erin, a classmate of Jim's. Dressed as a sexy elf at a party they attended last year, Bones remembered her mostly as the one Jim fucked not so quietly in the bathroom that night, hearing every blessed detail on the way home afterward. "You're under the mistletoe," she cooed, and leaned in to kiss Jim.

Leonard's stomach got tight as Jim grinned goodnaturedly at the young woman, moved toward her... and kissed her cheek. Something inside him released slowly, that stupid jealous feeling ebbing away as he heard Jim tell her 'Merry Christmas' and sent her on her way. But there were others were behind her, each one full of holiday cheer that Bones suddenly didn't feel.

Bones headed toward the table with the drinks and poured himself a healthy one, but something must have shown on his face because now Jim was tugging at his arm, trying to get his attention. "Hey," Jim said.

"Hey what?" Bones replied, probably a little sharper than he ought to, but old jealousies were hard to let go.

Jim watched his face carefully, as if realization was slowly hitting him. _Genius, yeah right_. Then that grin, fuck, Bones knew that grin, knew he was in trouble so he wasn't all that surprised when Jim took him by the arm and steered him toward the mistletoe. _Ah hell_.

"Hey doc." Bones heard Jim using his special voice on him. Blue eyes darted up at the greenery hanging above his head and back down at him. Two hands reached up for him, Bones felt his face cradled by those strong hands and then it was just Jim, kissing him deep, soft, lingering. His own fingers tightened on Jim's shirt, bunching it at the shoulder.

Somewhere in the back of his head he knew this was probably more than they should be doing in public, where the entire ship could see. A couple gasps, a wolf whistle, a chuckling voice he recognized at Scotty's '...told ya so.' Then Jim tilted his head and went in deeper, and it wasn't about kissing anymore. It was about _claiming_.

They belonged each other, and maybe it wasn't so bad that everyone knew it.


	5. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for livejournal comm jim_and_bones's Resolution flash fic challenge. Prompt - Bones: Go to the gym with Jim more often.

Moving into Jim's quarters had been eye-opening on many levels. Jim had gotten tidier since their early days at the Academy, years back, when Leonard found himself tripping over boots and throwing away candy wrappers and empty milk cartons.

But what surprised him most was how fastidious Jim was about his morning work-out. Didn't matter what time they fell into bed, wrapped up in each other's arm. Each morning, the computer chirped three times at 0530 and without fail, Jim rolled out of bed, dressed quietly in the bathroom, and headed out the door for his morning run.

On more than one occasion, Leonard felt Jim's lips brush his forehead before he slid out of bed, and each time, Leonard mentally chastised himself for not joining Jim. He really ought to, it would be good for him (and his slightly expanding mid-section). They could have fun together, more time to talk and just be with each other. And as much as Leonard hated to admit it, his body was changing. Getting older. Getting soft.

It wasn't like San Francisco, where he walked everywhere. Generally speaking, Leonard didn't run, unless he was being chased by an alien holding a sharp, pointy object. But being on board the starship meant that if he wanted to exercise, it needed to be a priority in his life, something he made time in his day for.

Reason after reason for getting up and going with Jim entered his head, each reason better than the next. But somehow, every morning Leonard found himself rolling back over, his arms wrapping around his pillow and he would sleep on for another hour.

 

Finally, one night he talked to Jim about it. "I'm gonna go with you in the morning, 'kay?"

Jim chuckled as he put away his work for the evening. "Sure, Bones," he said, stretching and yawning, a stripe of hard muscle visible when his shirt rose above his waistband.

Fuck... "No, I mean it. I should get exercising more," Leonard told himself as much as Jim. "I don't go in the afternoons like I used to, back at the Academy."

Jim scoffed, undressing. "You're a fuck lot busier now."

They were all busier now. "I know," he murmured, changing into his pajama pants. "That just means I should go when I can."

Jim lay back down on their bed, shifting into his spot. "You want me to get you up in the morning?" he asked, tugging Leonard toward him on the bed.

"...Yeah," Leonard replied, before their mouths found each other and ended this line of conversation.

 

_...the next morning_

"Bones?"

Leonard felt the touch before he heard the voice, penetrating the fog. "...yeah."

"Wake up, time to go run. "

"Five minutes..." he sighed, rolling over and sighing deeply.

The next thing he knew, his alarm was waking him up at 0645, and he could hear Jim singing to himself in the shower. _Fuck_ , he thought, throwing his legs out of bed, yawning and cursing as he joined Jim in the bathroom.

Three days later, after similar morning attempts to get up, Leonard found himself getting pissed about missing Jim's work-outs, day after day. "Tomorrow," he groused as they climbed into bed that night. "God as my witness, Jim, I'm gonna-"

Jim rolled over to one side, his hand on Leonard's side. "You know, I don't care-"

"You don't care what?"

"I like this." Jim said, resting his head on Leonard's stomach, lifting his shirt up, exposing the trail of dark hair leading down into his sleep pants. "Fuck, I love this..." he grinned, nosing the soft muscle of Leonard's abdomen. "You wanna come run with me, come run with me. If you don't," he circled his tongue around Leonard's navel, "then stay here, warm and toasty. Fuck knows you work hard enough, you should get to sleep in when you can."

Leonard's hand rested carefully on Jim's head, his fingers threading the soft strands. "You're gorgeous, you know that?" he murmured, his eyes taking in the ridiculously taut muscles of Jim's body as they lay against each other.

"Yeah," he chuckled, mouthing along Leonard's waistband, blue eyes mirthful, laughing. "I _like_ running, Bones. I need that time when I run to think, to plan. A few minutes to go over what's gonna happen that day. To keep myself quick so I don't get hurt, and have that grumpy old CMO yell at me." The fingers of Jim's hand found Leonard's, lacing together tightly. "It's just - don't think this is anything that remotely bothers me. I love you, all of you. Period."

Leonard looked down at Jim's eyes, seeing love reflected there, no judgement, no chastisement. Maybe running wasn't his thing. But as he felt his heart rate increasing with each slow, wet movement of Jim's mouth, he knew there was an activity they both could do, together. Previous experience taught Leonard that if he paced himself right, they could manage this 'exercise' twice in one night.

"Now that's what I call a work-out," Jim murmured before they both passed out from exhaustion.


	6. Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Livejournal's Jim and Bones 'Get Wood' flash fic challenge (write a fic based on a quote from the movie): #25 Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: _nobody goes back for seconds, let alone thirds...!_

It shouldn't have been possible.

Leonard's head fell back, mouth open as he panted to catch his breath. His legs were jelly, but they managed to hold him up against the side of the hot springs, his arms spread wide on the sides of the natural pool, trying not to drown. It had been a long time since he'd come that hard, twice in a row, but fuck if he hadn't seen stars that last time, slamming hard and fast into Jim.

Jim... Looking at him from across the small springs, Jim's wet hair plastered to the side of his head. His face was flushed from the heat of the water and the exhaustion of their sexual acts. "You okay?" Leonard murmured low and rough.

Jim just smiled at him, that satisfied smirk on his face. Had to be sore, fuck, Leonard had been the one doing the fucking and he was sore. This hot springs, one of the Fornians had told Jim that it was rumored to be their fountain of youth, that those who swam in its waters would stay young forever.

There was something in here, for sure, in the little bubbles all around them, bursting as they hit the surface. Energizing. Invigorating, even now. Again.

Leonard took a deep breath and crossed the pool toward Jim, those blue eyes lighting up again as Jim held out an arm, beckoning him. "Oh yeah, Bones," he heard Jim say as he caressed Jim's face. Leonard could see his fingers getting all wrinkled and pruney from the steaming water.

Other parts of him, however, were hard as a rock – again. His hands wrapped around Jim, sliding down, lifting his hips onto his cock as his mouth found Jim's neck. A slow thrust up and he heard Jim groaning, fingernails clawing at his back, one hand grasping at his hair.

He didn't know what was in this water (and probably didn't want to) but fuck if he was gonna get out anytime soon.


	7. Dinner and Afters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Kiss flash fic challenge

He's nervous.

He shouldn't be, they've done this a hundred times. Dinner, drinks, talking about ship's business. But even someone as emotionally dense as Leonard can feel that something's changed. Jim's less flirtatious than usual, his casual remarks about Bones' ass replaced with a 'You look nice tonight,' and for some reason that makes Leonard feel a hundred times warmer.

Walking together into the arboretum, Leonard could feel the energy coming off of Jim. "What's going on?" he asked as the door slid closed behind them, the scent of green and leafy trees filling his nostrils.

And something else... "What- is that - fried chicken?" Leonard asked as they walked further into the arboretum, off the path and onto a grassy knoll. A blanket, a picnic basket, some beer in an ice bucket. "Jim?"

"Might be," Jim rocked on the back of his heels. Leonard's stomach did a slow flip-flop at the sight in front of him. This wasn't just dinner. It was a declaration, and a damn good one, in Leonard's opinion. Words weren't going to win Leonard over, never had. It would take something like this to get through his thick skull.

The look on Jim's face... full of anticipation and nerves. Wrapping on arm around Jim's shoulders, Leonard pulled him close. Their temples pressed together, and he could smell Jim's cologne, faint but musky. Tilting his head, Leonard found Jim's mouth, warm and dry. "Thank you," he whispered, an audible click inside him at the feel of them together. Yes.

"Hey," Jim chuckled softly, nerves replaced by joy, bubbling inside him. He touched Leonard's hair. "That's supposed to happen later, after I've won you over with my charm and dinner."

Leonard rubbed their noses together gently as he laughed, leaning in again to pull gently at Jim's lower lip. "...already have me, Jim," he murmured against that lush mouth. "But the chicken was a nice touch."

"Did it work?" Jim asked, circling his arms around Leonard's waist.

Another soft kiss. "I'll let you know in the morning."


	8. Mission Accomplished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the Jim and Bones LiveJournal comm's Hot and Cold Flash Fic. H/C Bingo square: moving

Jim had just finished briefing senior staff, ending the meeting when he called out, "Doctor, can I talk with you a moment."

No one was surprised the captain wanted to talk to the CMO - their relationship was the worst kept secret on board the Enterprise. But McCoy's chilly response was out of the ordinary. "I'm sorry, Captain, there's something I need to take care of, right now."

The two men glared at each other, and an uncomfortable silence filled the ready room. "Okay," Jim replied, just as tepid. "Later, maybe."

There's a long pause, long enough that even the others noticed. "Yeah," McCoy says, turning and leaving the room after the Operations chief.

One by one the officers left until it was only Jim, staring out at the stars outside his small window, and Nyota. "What's going on?" she asked, waiting until the door closed before speaking.

Jim turned, not expecting anyone to still be in the room. "What do you mean?" Nyota just gave him a knowing look. "We're just... its a long story."

"I've got time," she said, taking a seat. "Talk to me, Captain."

He waited another minute before speaking. "A couple days ago... I told him I needed to talk to him about something important, something special. Some time off I had planned for us." He stopped, hesitating. "I guess... he thought I was gonna ask him to move in with me." Nyota smiled at that, then stopped when she saw Jim wasn't smiling. "You weren't?"

"No... I mean, I _would_ , in a heartbeat if I thought that was what he wanted. I tried to bring it up before, but he didn't seem- I dunno," he sighed. "I told him it'd be okay, if he still wanted to move in, but he now thinks I don't mean it, don't want it."

"Dumb guys," she sighed. Jim's eyes found hers, and she could see how upset he really was by all this. "What happened when you tried to talk to him."

"You just saw that," he told her, a tightness in his voice. "Whatever, if he wants to behave like a brat, then let him. He used to do this at the Academy, go mope for days then..." Jim shook his head. "Look, I need to get back to work."

"Okay," she told him, taking his hand, and giving it a squeeze. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I don't need anything," he said, his voice dropping as the door opened and he headed for the exit. "Or anyone."

Nyota read body language very well, and knew he was hurting more than he would admit.

~*~*~*~*~

 

The Enterprise was a village, but it also was a family. It didn't take Nyota long to collect what she needed. First, she had to get Kirk and McCoy out of her hair for a couple hours. Chekov drew the short straw and accepted the vaccine for Melvarian mud fleas without complaint, though McCoy ranted and raved, wondering how the kid got exposed to this. Sulu manufactured a shuttle pilot renewal review and asked Kirk to sit in the second chair for him, knowing Jim loved being out there, controlling the smaller ships whenever he could.

After that, all it took was getting Spock to override the entry codes to both the CMO's and Captain's quarters and a handful of off-duty security officers volunteering their services for a couple of hours. They looked like a little parade of red-shirts, carrying the boxes that Christine carefully packed down the hall, up the turbo lift, and into the Captain's room, where she unpacked them, trying to keep from prying into Jim's personal things too deeply - she avoided the night table altogether, _really_ not wanting to know what those two got up to when they were together.

 

No one knew for sure what happened that night, when Doctor McCoy went barreling into the Captain's room, wondering where all his things were. All they knew was that the next morning, everything seemed back to normal, and all appropriate departments had been sent messages regarding Leonard McCoy's new living arrangements.

~*~*~*~*~

 

There were a dozen red roses (real, she recognized, from one of the ship's gardens) and a box of chocolates on her bed when she got back from her evening run. She took a hot shower, nommed on her chocolates (saving a few for Spock) and went to bed that night feeling very accomplished.


End file.
